The E-Waste Database

🌱 Why is there a list of strategic projects under the CRMA? The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) “aims to ensure [domestic] European extraction, processing and recycling of strategic raw materials meet 10%, 40% and 25% of [the] EU's [total] demand by 2030, respectively”. The CRMA came into force on 23 May 2024. At the time, the European Commission opened a call for proposals for so-called “strategic projects”. The submitted projects were assessed by the Commission and external experts to see whether they met the relevant criteria under the CRMA. On this basis, the Commission then compiled a “list of projects for the extraction, processing, recycling or substitution of strategic raw materials”. The first list – consisting of 47 strategic projects – was formally adopted on 25 March 2025. 🌱 Which projects were selected? The 47 strategic projects that were selected “contribute to the EU's secure supply of strategic raw materials, adhere to environmental, social and governance criteria and are technically feasible”. They each “cover one or more segments of the raw material value chain”. Overall, “14 of the 17 strategic raw materials listed” in the CRMA are covered. The projects are located in 13 Member States of the EU. There are projects in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Sweden. Of the projects selected, 25 are in extraction activities, 24 in processing, 10 in recycling, and only 2 in the substitution of raw materials. All in all, 22 projects cover lithium, 12 nickel, 11 graphite, 10 cobalt, 7 manganese, 3 tungsten, and 1 magnesium. 🌱 What benefits are the projects expected to bring? Overall, the strategic projects will help the EU meet its targets under the CRMA. According to the EU, the projects will “contribute significantly to Europe's green and digital transitions, while supporting Europe's defence industry and aerospace industries”. Through the selected projects the EU hopes to be able to “fully meet its extraction, processing and recycling 2030 benchmarks for lithium and cobalt, while making substantial progress for graphite, nickel and manganese”. 🌱 What happens next? The 47 strategic projects will “benefit from coordinated support by the Commission, Member States and financial institutions to become operational”. An expected capital investment of €22.5 billion is needed for the projects to become operational. The selected projects will “benefit from streamlined permitting provisions” and have “access to finance and support to connect with relevant off-takers”. The permit-granting process for each of the extraction projects will be completed within 27 months, and within 15 months for other projects. The European Commission is expected to launch a new call for Strategic Project at the end of the summer of 2025. Read more about the projects here: - https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_864 - https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/raw-materials/areas-specific-interest/critical-raw-materials/strategic-projects-under-crma/selected-projects_en - https://www.mining.com/eu-unveils-47-strategic-projects-to-secure-critical-minerals-access/ https://www.miningweekly.com/article/eu-designates-47-strategic-raw-materials-projects-to-strengthen-supply-chain-2025-03-26

🌱 How does mining impact Indigenous People’s rights to water? According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “the impact of extractivism on natural resources, compounded with the effects of climate change, has meant many indigenous peoples no longer have access to safe drinking water under international human rights standards”.[i] Mining can “creat[e] unacceptable risks of toxic contamination, not only of indigenous peoples' drinking water supplies on site, but also of downstream populations, often occurring in river headwaters”.[ii] 🌱 What overarching issues are there in modern water management? An overarching issue in modern water management and Indigenous Peoples’ access to water is “water and sanitation projects not having a sustainable strategy to prevent funding exhaustion”.[iii] One way to solve this is to factor in the knowledge and know-how of Indigenous Peoples. The beliefs and practices of Indigenous Peoples provide “a genuine expression of the sustainability and eco-systemic approach, which today we are trying to promote in the planning and management of water throughout the world”.[iv] 🌱 What measures should mining companies take to protect water rights? To effectively uphold Indigenous rights, companies “must put in place the necessary means to ensure that indigenous peoples enjoy their human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, inclusive of an intercultural dialogue that is respectful of their ancestral worldviews, knowledge and practices”.[v] All in all, it is also worth noting that “information processes and respectful intercultural dialogue between [stakeholders] and indigenous peoples” are key “to ensure the most appropriate strategies to guarantee the potability of the water used”.[vi] 🌱 How can mining companies factor in Indigenous views? All in all, “in order to guarantee compliance with the rights of indigenous peoples and effective control over their [own] territories”, companies must ensure that the Indigenous “right to free, prior and informed consent [is] implemented before and during any action that affects them, including actions that affect their water and aquatic ecosystems”.[vii] In addition to meaningful stakeholder engagement, companies should carry out thorough social and environmental impact assessments. This information then needs to be shared with relevant stakeholders and form the basis for later dialogues. This post has been adapted from a newsletter written by Krisna Baghouzian and Christine Nikander. The newsletter titled “How does mining impact Indigenous Peoples’ water rights?” was originally published in “The E-Waste Newsletter”. [i] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025). [ii] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p. 10. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025). [iii] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025); The Indigenous Foundation, Lack of Clean Drinking Water in Indigenous communities. https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/lack-of-clean-drinking-water-in-indigenous-communities (19.03.2025). [iv] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025). [v] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025); The Indigenous Foundation, Lack of Clean Drinking Water in Indigenous communities. https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/lack-of-clean-drinking-water-in-indigenous-communities (19.03.2025); B.M.J. Kalpana Balasooriya et al., A review of drinking water quality issues in remote and indigenous communities in rich nations with special emphasis on Australia. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723051847 (19.03.2025). [vi] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p. 11. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025). [vii] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025).

🌱 How do Indigenous Peoples view water? By many Indigenous communities, “[w]ater is not considered or managed as a resource but is considered to be part of an interconnected whole”.[i] This is because, “[in] the traditions of many indigenous peoples, water is life itself”.[ii] Many Indigenous Peoples hold the view that “water belongs to everyone and should remain available to all, as a common good”.[iii] In line with this, water “management is based on an integrated territorial vision and on deep respect and care for rivers, springs, lakes and wetlands”.[iv] 🌱 How do Indigenous Peoples approach water management? The approach of Indigenous Peoples to water “offers a valuable example of [the] community-based management of safe drinking water and sanitation”.[v] Overall, “[t]he territories of indigenous peoples comprise about 25 per cent of the world’s land surface, including approximately 40 per cent of all protected land areas and ecologically intact landscapes”. Over time, “indigenous peoples have preserved 80 per cent of the remaining terrestrial biodiversity”.[vi] Remarkably, “[t]he availability of quality water in [many] indigenous peoples’ territories was preserved due to their sustainable practices as well as [the] difficult accessibility of their territories”.[vii] 🌱 What can Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge teach us? Indigenous Peoples “offer us valuable ways to address the global water crisis through their traditional practices, both in terms of the sustainable management of aquatic ecosystems and the democratic governance of safe drinking water and sanitation”.[viii] Despite this, Indigenous Peoples are commonly left out “from planning and strategic decision-making in climate change prevention and adaptation”. This “often increases the risks they face in water and sanitation”.[ix] 🌱 Why is Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge often overlooked? Overall, “the richness of indigenous peoples' knowledge and their evolution to adapt to climate change in their territories are often ignored”.[x] In line with this, “mainstream approaches to water management often dismiss indigenous peoples’ water knowledge and management systems as unscientific or folkloric”. This disregards “the fact that their knowledge is based on empirical experience, resulting from living in their territories from generation to generation”.[xi] This post has been adapted from a newsletter written by Krisna Baghouzian and Christine Nikander. The newsletter titled “How does mining impact Indigenous Peoples’ water rights?” was originally published in “The E-Waste Newsletter”. [i] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025). [ii] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025). [iii] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025). [iv] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025). [v] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025). [vi] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025). [vii] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025). [viii] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/51/24: Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: state of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5124-human-rights-safe-drinking-water-and-sanitation-indigenous (19.03.2025); Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Indigenous peoples face growing challenges to access safe water. https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/10/indigenous-peoples-face-growing-challenges-access-safe-water (19.03.2025). [ix] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p. 9. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025); The Indigenous Foundation, Lack of Clean Drinking Water in Indigenous communities. https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/lack-of-clean-drinking-water-in-indigenous-communities (19.03.2025). [x] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, p. 9. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025). [xi] Pedro Arrojo Agudo, Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples: State of affairs and lessons from ancestral cultures. Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/2022-11-04/A-HRC-51-24-Friendly-version-EN.pdf (19.03.2025).